Improvement in grain-driers



R. S. REYNOLDS..

Grain Drier.

N. PiTERs. PhulwLimogl-Jpwr4 Washington. n. C.

VNTTED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

RANSOM S. REYNOLDS, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT.

IMPROVEMENT IN GRAIN-DRIERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 38,985, dated June 23, 1863.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RANsoM S. REYNOLDS, of New Haven, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in an Apparatus for Drying, Cooling, and Cleaning Grain, Sto.; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specitication, in which- Figure l represents an elevation of one of the sides of the apparatus, showing the driving-gear. Fig. 2 represents a vertical longitudinal section through the same. Fig. 3 represents a top plan.

Similar letters of reference,wh ere they occur, denote like parts of the apparatus in all the gures.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe the same with reference to the drawings.

A represents a case for inclosing the apparatus, said case being furnished with such openings only as are necessary for the inlet and exit of the heated and cool or dry air, as may be necessary for acting on the grain, carrying off the dust, and supporting the combustion of the lire in the furnace.

The moving parts of the apparatus may be driven as follows: A pulley, B, driven by a crank, or from any irst moving-power, has around it an endless belt, C, which is twisted and passes around another pulley, D, to give it motion. From a pulley, E, on the same shaft with the pulley D, passes an endless belt, F,which passes around apulley, G, on the fanshaft of the fan-blower H, that supplies the air that is to be heated for drying, as well as the cool air for cooling the grain, as will be explained. From a third pulley on the same shaft with the pulleys D E passes an endless belt, I, to and around a pulley on the same shaft with but concealed by the pulley J, and from J another belt, K, passes around L, and from a pulley behind L a belt, M, passes to and around a pulley, N. From a pulley on the same shaft with those D E a belt, O, passes to and around a small pulley, a., on the end of the upper fan-shaft, b, as seen in Fig. 3; and on this fan-shaft there is a cam-wheel, c, that gives a vibratory motion to an arm, d, Fig. l, pivotedat e, the farther end of said arm being connected to a riddle or screen, f, for taking out any coarse impurities from the grain before it enters the machine or apparatus, to be stirred and dried. At the lower side of the case is a pulley, P, which may get its motion from the first motor or from the pulley B, as may be found most advantageous. On the shaft of the pulley P there is a pinion that works into the gear-Wheel Q, and gives said gear-wheel its motion; and this gear-wheel, by means of interior pinions, g, on the same shaft with itself and interior gear-wheels, R, and chain-wheels h on other shafts, but driven by the pinions g, gives motion to the endless perforated carrying and drying and cooling` apron S. The shaft carrying the pulley B has a pinion upon it that gears with and drives the cogged wheel T. on whose shaft there are also placed, inside of the case, pinions fi, that gear with cogged wheels U behind,but on the saine shaft with the chain-wheels V for carrying and moving the upper perforated endless carrying belt or apron, WV, for which the chainwheel V also acts as a supporter. The shafts of the pulleys J L N, which pass through the machine, are supported in hinged arms a, so that they can rise or fall without slacking their belts, and these shafts carry a series of stirrers, j, (there being several on each shaft,) for moving the grain'on the apron W as it is carried through the machine. The fan X on the shaft b, and driven by the belt O and pulley a, is a suction-fan which draws to itself from the inside of the apparatus all the light dust and impurities loosened from the grain by the stirrers, or by its transit through the machine, and eXpels it through the trunk or trough Y out of the apartment or building. The dust, Snc., drawn to the suction-fan comes up through vertical passages j', and thence to the eyes ofthe fan-case.

k 7c are recesses, in the bottoms of which are valves opening outward from the current of air drawn toward the fan. In these recesses much of the heavier impurities will fall and settle, there being an eddy or calm in them, and when filled access can be had to them through openings z in the sides of the case to empty them of the accumulation therein. The grain to be dried, cooled, and, as a consequence, cleaned, is admitted into the hopper l, and thence passes over the shaken riddle or screen f onto a yguiding-board, m, and from thence through an adjustable opening, o, and passage p onto a guidin g-board, q, and adjustable throat r onto the endless carrying-apron W, which carries it forward,while the stirrers j are constantly agitatingit in its passage. The grain, having reached the turn at the end of the traverse of the belt or apron W, falls upon a guiding'board, s, and passes through an adjustable opening, t, onto a screen, u, and thence through a seltacting throat, fu, onto the second endless carrying-apron S, at the end of which another self-acting throat, w, is arranged, where the grain, which has been cooled on the apron S, is delivered into a spout and conducted out ofthe machine at as.

y is a furnace set in a chamber,Z, so that its heat will only be carried into such parts cf the apparatus as may be desirable by pipes or passages, the furnace being separated by suitable partitions from grain chambers and pas sages. The pipe l is a smoke-Hue for carrying otf the gears, Sac. The pipe 2 brings a volume ot' air from the fan-blower H, and delivers it against the furnace in the furnace# chamber Z, where it is heated, and by the pressure in said chamber driven through short pipes 2 into the drying-chamber, so that it may envelop the carrying-apron W and pass through the pert'orations thereof, and thus dry the grain in that chamber. The suction-fan X, superinducing an upward tendency to the heated air, draws it as it becomes heavy by its absorption of whatever moisture it finds in the grain,'as well as the impurities it gathers and carries up, and throws it out ot' the apparatus and out of the building. The pipe 3 communicates at its upper end with the fan- 'chamber 4, and the air i'orced into this pipe at its upper end by the fanblower H is forced down through said pipe and discharged underneath the lower perforated apron, S, and disseminates itself throughout the chamber in which this apron moves for the purpose ot" cooling the grain. rlhe grain in passing over l the screen u is freed from any impurities not previously taken out of it, and these impurities may pass 01T at 5, and out ofthe machine. The inlets at o u, and the exits at G t w, are self-adj ustin g, while the others are adjustable by hand. The selfadjusting passages prevent the heated air from escaping, while the passage of the grain is not incommoded thereby.

I have shown two aprons, the upper one delivering'its grain upon the next one below it, and the two belts moving in opposite directions; but the number otl belts may be increased, each delivering in turn upon the next one below it, and they may be run in the same directions, if preferred. It is not necessary that the pipe 3 should pass through the i'urnance-chamber, and is simply placed there t'or convenience in represent-ing the invention, for, as its duty is to carry cool air from the fan chamber or blower to the apron S, it may be arranged elsewhere and outside ofthe furnacechamber.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new therein, and desire to se cure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The arrangement of the endless moving aprons in their respective chambers, with their inlet and exit passages for the transmission of the grain through them,when said chambers are furnished with heated and cool air, substantially in the manner and for the purposes herein described.

2. In combination with the traveling endless belt WV, the series of stirrers hung upon hinged arms for the purposes ot' allowing them to yield to the dept-h of grain on said apron, and to continue their rotation at whatever position they may assume, substantially as de' scribed.

RANSOM S. REYNOLDS.

VVit-nesses:

ALvAN L. MAYNARD, Gao. S. Rawson., 

